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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Colfax Girls Win, Boys’ Bafus Exits

Jeff Finke Correspondent

A basketball

Fans of the Newport Grizzlies will long remember the drought of ‘97.

Colfax held ninth-ranked Newport scoreless for more than a 10:05 span of the first half and the Bulldogs went on to earn a hard-fought 35-33 victory in the girls Northeast A District basketball tournament Friday night at Mead High School.

Colfax (18-4) takes on second-ranked Lakeside (20-1), a 55-30 victor over Deer Park, tonight at 7. Newport (18-3) plays Deer Park (10-12) in a loser-out contest at 2 p.m.

In boys action, Chewelah (15-7) defeated Colfax 46-35, ending Colfax coach Bob Bafus’ career. Bafus retires with a 603-249 record.

Chewelah will play Medical Lake (16-5) at 3:30 today. Lakeside (16-4), which, like Medical Lake, had a bye Friday, plays Freeman (13-8) at 8:30. Freeman defeated Kettle Falls 47-36.

Girls

Colfax 35, Newport 33

The game was up for grabs until the Bulldogs’ Tracy Tribbett took center stage with 14 seconds remaining. Tribbett stepped to the line and calmly sank a pair of free throws to snap a 33-all tie.

Offensively, it was a nightmare for both teams. The Grizzlies made 10 of 55 shots (18 percent) from the floor and Colfax hit 11 of 47 (23 percent), including a frigid 3-of-25 effort in the first half.

“This is the kind of game we play against them,” stated Colfax coach Terry Asbjornsen. “The last time we played them, we missed four foul shots in the last 20 seconds and lost by a point.”

For Newport coach Mike Frederick, whose team must now win four straight to make it to the state tournament, it was a bitter defeat.

“I thought our offense would pick it up in the second half, but it just didn’t happen,” Frederick said. “We didn’t get the job done.”

Carey Sauer, who missed her first 13 shots of the game, scored all seven of her points in the first 3:38 of the fourth quarter to pull Newport to within 30-26.

By the time Heidi Schultz scored the last of her seven consecutive points, the game was tied at 33 with 32 seconds on the clock.

After Tribbett’s free throws, Newport still had a chance to tie the game, but the Bulldogs’ defense forced Jenny Casey to throw up a desperation shot that missed badly.

Colfax 7 7 10 11 - 35 Newport 7 6 6 14 - 33

COLFAX - Harder 0, T.Pittman 2, Blevins 0, Hall 11, Zimmerman 0, Thiele 8, Tribbett 4, Rohner 0, Widman 4, S.Pittman 6.

NEWPORT - Carter 2, Casey 3, Lindburg 1, Schulz 13, Almond 0, McDirmid 0, Sauer 7, Frandrup 3, Carrara 4.

Lakeside 55, Deer Park 30

Nikki Petticrew tossed in 13 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and had five steals to lead the Eagles to the lopsided win over the Stags. Deer Park’s Tami Michaels led all scorers with 17.

Deer Park 6 10 7 7 - 30 Lakeside 14 14 11 16 - 55

DEER PARK - Hardie 4, Michaels 17, Davis 0, Oswalt 0, Bendowski 0, Sims 0, Fielder 0, Langbehn 0, Stone 6, Scott 0, O’Brien 3.

LAKESIDE - McElroy 0, Wilkins 13, Waddell 2, Heebink 6, Hatch 11, Jolley 7, Reardan 0, Long 1, Petticrew 13, Lewis 2.

Boys

Chewelah 46, Colfax 35

The Cougars dominated the fourth quarter by a 22-12 margin and eliminated the Bulldogs (6-15).

“Well, it’s over,” said Bafus after the game. “It kind of leaves you with a hollow feeling in your stomach. It’s been 40 years and it’s been a great run.”

Colfax 3 12 8 12 - 35 Chewelah 8 10 6 22 - 46

COLFAX - Kehne 9, Damery 3, Robinson 3, Warwick 0, Curtis 8, Van Dyke 5, Cook 0, Keck 2, Shields 0, Stoner 3, Van Tine 2.

CHEWELAH - Forsberg 0, Nitschke 5, Meserve 10, Miller 0, Edwards 2, Wissink 10, Landram 11, Kinley 0, Churape 0, Sunday 3, Parrish 5.

Freeman 47, Kettle Falls 36

The Scotties dominated the fourth quarter en route to a win over the Bulldogs (9-12) in a loser-out game.

Kettle Falls 9 9 11 7 - 36 Freeman 11 15 6 15 - 47

KETTLE FALLS - Weathers 2, Presley 0, Spangler 0, Miller 0, Lickfold 0, Kulesza 6, Newton 6, Berryman 15, George 2, Williams 5, Gordon 0.

FREEMAN - Odle 4, Hill 8, Love 0, Miller 7, S.Simmons 6, Jones 4, Goldsmith 6, White 8, Pope 4.